There's no imminent return to action for Luke George with Chester FC assistant Jon McCarthy admitting the midfielder's absence is being felt.

George, a summer signing from National League rivals Southport, has missed the last seven matches after pulling his thigh muscle in the 2-1 defeat to Forest Green Rovers on September 5.

It was hoped he would return within 'two to three weeks' but the damage was worse than expected. George has been forced to sit out training again this week and now seems certain to miss the visit of Lincoln City on Saturday and his return to Haig Avenue on Tuesday.

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George has an important role in the team as midfield enforcer and McCarthy accepts it's probably not a coincidence Chester appear more vulnerable defensively without the 23-year-old having conceded 10 goals in the past four games.

"You look at Luke George and he's the one we targeted and brought in to be that holding midfielder," said McCarthy, who shared the frustration of supporters after the Blues lost 3-2 at Barrow on Tuesday .

"We targeted him because he does have that awareness that when we lose the ball higher up the pitch, he's the one who delays everything and slows everything down.

"He understands that part of the game better than anyone else in our team and physically he's able to do that so you can attribute some of it to that but not all of it.

Luke George scored his first goal for Chester against Forest Green Rovers but later went off injured
Luke George scored his first goal for Chester against Forest Green Rovers but later went off injured

"We've got an 18-man squad and we should have been able to deal with it a little bit better so it's frustrating.

"Luke had a foot problem and he was always able to play with that but then he pulled his thigh and it's a big muscle. We were expecting four to six weeks and it looks like it's going to be the longer end of that.

"The thing with Luke, because he's strong and tough when the physio's assessing him and says 'does that hurt' then it doesn't hurt for him but for someone else it does.

"It's been a higher grade of injury than we initially thought."

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